PORT ORANGE, Fla. --
The city of Port Orange has come up with a new way to make money. It wants to get into the business of removing mold from houses and private businesses and officials want their firefighters to do the job.
Firefighters go out on scenes like sewage spills all the time and then they climb right back into their trucks. They wipe them down and clean them constantly, but they're never really sure they get everything.
The Zimek system cleans up what cleaning leaves behind. The system uses a dry mist that settles on every surface and effectively kills bacteria and infection for up to 30 days.
"On a daily basis, they're exposed to viruses and bacterias that they don't even know about," said Russ Rafferty, Port Orange Fire Department.
The Port Orange Fire Department sees getting the equipment as a smart investment, one that could be used citywide to protect health, but they also want to take it outside the city.
"We need to be able to have something to take into the community and offer it to them to be able to get a deeper cleaning than the surface cleaning that they do," Rafferty said.
For a fee, trained firefighters would take it to places like child care centers. They would do it on overtime, not their normal shift, and the fee would cover the extra costs.
Parents at Sandcastle Learning Center said they'd be in favor of their school using it.
"If you know your child is in a clean, safe environment you'll be more apt to bring them here, more comfortable throughout the day while you're at work," parent Patty Navarra said.
The department still has to convince skeptical city council members the expense is worth it, but also feel they can't afford not to get the system.
"We'd be using for police, wastewater, make sure they're getting a cleaning," Rafferty said.
Port Orange said no other private businesses in the area offer the type of deep cleaning the system offers. Miami-Dade's and Winter Garden's fire departments have already purchased the system.
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